Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Blizzard

In addition to the catch-up post below, here are some pictures of our blizzard today (actually, this is just a lot of snow- the blizzard is just getting started. I think it will mostly be a lot of wind blowing all this snow around so you can't see. We're still learning these new weather terms).




E is giving an exam and hopefully walking home for a late lunch. My school is closed and I have a cold, so I'm taking it easy here. The wind is picking up, and it's actually a little sunny!



So I've been delinquent...

The problem with blogging, is that if there is something interesting going on, you're too busy doing it to blog about it. And if you have time to blog, chances are you have nothing to say. The good thing about blogging, is, there aren't very many rules, especially if you have a guaranteed reader base (i.e., parents).

Here is an alphabetical (but not chronological or even comprehensive) update on happenings here in Small Town, Midwest:

A is for the Art Festival we went to on Main Street the other month. We live in a postcard.
Also, A is for Advent. We have a wreath and readings from Isaiah.

B is for Biology. Which is loved by one of us. Guess which one! Some people at the local community college might even be learning some.

C is for Christmas! We bought a $25 tree from Target, and we can’t wait for our long trip home. Being that we live in a postcard, it is getting very pretty around here.

D is for driving. We know how to get several places now, and it’s felt great to know where a few things are. We sometimes seem to spend a lot of time driving.

E is for eggplant. Remember that pizza from the other post? We had it again last night, when we had some people over for dinner. Still yummy.

F is for new friends. I think we’re up to three point five.

G is for green. Which is now gone from our landscape.

H is for hiking. We went with our new friends who have three kids four and under. We like them (and their parents, too). They are the winners of our church friends, because they only live 15 minutes away, in another little town, as opposed to in the “city,” forty minutes away. There were lots of trees and a river, and it reminded us of home.
H is also for Halloween- we had some of E's co-workers over for a little Halloween Party.


I is for incisive. That would be E’s students. In my case, I stands for present. That’s where my students are at. But, that makes them very rewarding to teach.

J is for the name of almost every person in our small group. It’s eerie. We break the mold. Who’s surprised?

K is for Keen. We both just got “matching” winter boots as our main Christmas present. They’re rated down to -30 degrees.
(the camera was fogged up because I just came in from outside!)

L is for bowling Lanes. We went to with another couple from church the day before Thanksgiving! They just moved here in June, so we considered ourselves the transplant bowling league for the evening.

M is for the Night of Christmas Magic. Oh, yes, it was magical. With elves, and cookie decorating, and cookie eating, and horse-drawn carriage rides. In the magical snow.

N is for New Moon, which I made E go and see with me when it came out. He was a good sport and now is owed one big favor.

O is for outside Christmas lights. It’s pretty cold when you put them up December 5th! Now we know why everyone here puts them up the day before Thanksgiving. They are white, per E’s opinion. Our inside lights are colored, per R’s.

Phone calls from home are soooo phun! As was this awesome surprise package I got from K.

Q is for Q-tips. Which we are currently out of, and it’s a long way to T*arget.

R is for racquetball! We’ve been playing (each other, sadly for E) once a week at the college gym. Soon we’re supposed to play doubles with a student and his girlfriend! Hopefully I’ll be able to hit the ball by then!

S is for Sam Seaborne. We’ve been watching West Wing from the library, since it is cold and dark when we get home. We never saw it while it was actually aired.

T is for teaching, which we’ve been doing a lot of. E more than me!

U is for uphill, which is how E walks to work every day. Sometimes I give him a ride, but not today.

V is for visitors! We had our good friend K come visit over Labor Day, and my mom came out for a few days in November. A good time was had by all. Our guest room officially has a guest bed, so.... come on over!

W is the woodpecker I can see outside right now (which was several days ago, before our blizzard started.) At least, I think it’s a red-bellied woodpecker....

X is for xerox. I was babysitting our friend’s kids the other day, and the oldest asked what his box of paper said, and then how I knew. I said I knew because it was spelled x-e-r-o-x.

Y is for yogurt, which we still like to eat with granola for lunch. I’ve been experimenting with making my own granola- I think this last batch came out pretty good.
(that's the granola, in case you couldn't tell)

Z is for zero, which the forecast predicts we’ll be 2 degrees below tonight, with windchills down to -20.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Tuesday


I thought I would be bored only working three days a week, but it hasn't happened yet! In addition to taking on the lion's (lioness'?) share of administrative duties that come with a move (tags and title, internet and phone, finding a grocery store, gas station, date night activity- some duties are more fun than others!), I've been enjoying having some more time for a few home activities. Tuesday I did a lot of cooking, using up food we got from our CSA (community supported agriculture- aka "farm cult"), mostly to freeze. I hope all three of our readers enjoy this photo essay:

First of all, our home as it looked before we had dinner guests the other night:





I made potato soup with the potatoes from the CSA:


I listened to NPR podcasts while I washed and chopped. I ran out of chicken stock for the soup, so I ran across to the store to buy more. If you could see out the window behind my laptop, you could see the store! I almost left the stove and podcast on- but I didn't.

Mums on our front porch on my way out the door:


While the potato soup was cooking.....

.... I cut up peppers, onions, and garlic to be processes for chili later this week! Probably tomorrow.


Mmmmm, chili. I left one pepper to actually eat fresh (We had eaten one the night before, too). We had some lettuce this week, and the salads have been amazing.

Then I did some planning for school- yesterday we had a science demonstration and some other review activities.


(see the rug, Mom?)

And, our fish P got some fresh clean water.

Though not as fresh and clean as the water will be soon, when our fancy water filter arrives! Pierre sends his love to my sister, who transported him here to Small Town in style and safety.

One last picture of our house, 'cause I know the parents like that kind of thing:

Peace out, y'all!

Monday, September 21, 2009

A Flavor of Education

While not the family blogger, I’ve had a goal to guest post for quite some time. Starting a new job and working at least 12 hours a day might not seem like the ideal time to realize such a goal. But, that’s how life works: oddly. Being in a new place is exciting, scary, and interesting. While there are many funky oddities that characterize a small town (of which I’m sure I only know few at this time), this post concerns the essence of a small liberal arts college. There are many things that characterize such an institution, but I’d like to leave you with ten mind morsels. Each is a way to complete the following sentence starter: You know you’re at a small liberal arts college when…

10) Your first student shows up to the first meeting of your first course 40 minutes early.
9) Students actually read what you assign them (at least 80%).
8) At a free cookout you overhear a group of nearby students arguing about the specifics of a World War II event.
7) When a slightly disgruntled student comes to discuss their recent test grade with you, they are marginally interested in their specific grade and much more interested in your philosophy of grading and its relationship to true learning.
6) Students are accustomed to addressing their professors by their first names.
5) The buildings match.
4) Students participate in reading groups outside of their normal classes.
3) People you’ve never met know who you are (this does overlap with “You know you’re in a small town when…”)
2) In the governance structure of the college, there is actually a “Committee on Committees.”
1) In the men’s bathroom there is magnetic poetry on the urinal wall. Apparently it’s been there for years. Not only is it there, but it changes, almost daily. Here are a few recent samples:

“Can an obedient skeleton make phone calls?”
“Know, see change and remember.”
“An obedient skeleton can make you ache.”
“Climb on and howl.”
“Publish manuscript.”

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Notes from the Western Front


A few notes and pictures of interest, at least to us:

Our New "House" (at least, as it looked when we moved it- we've added some flowers and furniture):


The view from my new commute (warning: this may make those of you in Big City want to move out here!):



Teaching three days a week = pure awesomeness

Leaving me time to make things like this eggplant pizza: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Eggplant-Pizza-102240
Pure deliciousness.

Speaking of pure awesomeness- The LIQUOR aisle at Target!!!!!:


The CSA where we get our veggies:


Fortunately, if surprisingly, there is some good food to be had of the restaurant variety also, in nearby Moderately-Sized City:


There is a lot more nature here, too. And by nature, I mean bugs. But there is some cool nature, too:


And, in case this point hasn't been driven home enough, it's very pretty here.

Damn relaxing, too =)

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

caffinated....

Last night E and I had coffee with my sister- it was great. Wonderful. And when I was still going strong at 10 pm, I started to wonder what was going on.... until I realized that, in my excitement over the real, live, frapachino, I had forgotten the magic word: decaf. My body was still twitching at 7:30 this morning...... but I'm pretty tired now. Time for bed.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

How the Doctors R and E go to the Beach

First, have two people defend two doctoral dissertations in 21 days- extra points if you defend one of them twice.
 
Be sure to have your car break down on the day of the last dissertation- but not until AFTER everything is over, AFTER you've picked up your other, working car from the shop. This works best if you have it break down right next to a parking space on a residential street near your house.

 
Start walking home, until your husband drives by (in the working car) and helps you push the non-working car into said parking spot. Take out your backpack, your change of clothes, your present from co-worker A, and your present FOR co-worker B, lock up, and drive away praising Jesus.

 
Go to the party at your boss's house for your defense- only an hour late.
Be sure to sleep for eight hours, then roll out of bed to a slate gray sky, and pack bathing suits and sunscreen.

 
Walk past the packed boxes, past empty boxes, past laundry, past bills, and past Histology of the Nervous System in Two Volumes, and past backpack and change of clothes still left by the door from last night.

 
Drive past broken-down car, and don't look back.

 
Finally, enjoy a wonderful day at the beach soaking in the sun (or shade), surf, snacks, frozen margarita and dinner date.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Sunday Reflections

Rain.
Ran.
Rain, rain, rain.
Rest.


Sunday, May 3, 2009

City Life

Last night I saw all three emergency services in action!

Now, E and I don't actually live in the city. We live between the city line and the beginning of the nice, safe suburbs. Which we're closer to usually depends on where you're coming from. (Figuratively, not literally.)

Last night, we spend the evening with some friends who are bona-fide city dwellers. They are part of an awesome community connected with a church in the city, where we know two families who are comfortable and committed to urban life. They both both own homes and love neighbors in the kind of place your parents don't want you to live. They are pretty awesome.

We went across town these friends to an awesome El Salvadorian restaurant. (The great ethic food you can get here will definitely be something we'll miss when we move). This particular area is known to be rather dangerous- not the kind a place a woman like me wants to walk alone at night. Not the kind of place you need to avoid with a group of four, two of them self-collected men.

We had a nice dinner and walked down to see the water (yes, we live that close to the coast). On our way back, we saw an ambulance struggle through a line of cars headed to the Cinco de Mayo festival that was going on near where we were parked. As we were walking up, we realized there were tons of police cars there, along with a few ambulances and fire trucks. We saw several men laying face-down on the ground, and walked around part of the sidewalk that was sectioned off with police tape. We found out someone had been stabbed- and noticed blood and a crumpled t-shirt at the crime scene! The police were doing great, controlling the situation, taking statements- we noticed they had these plastic handcuff things instead of the metal ones I always picture. I can't imagine being a police officer in such an urban area. The ambulance crew must have already done their thing- we saw one pull away in front of us.

On the way back through town, we saw a huge hole in the street where they've been repairing a water main break for a week. It's causing havoc with rush-hour traffic, but it's not an emergency service.

Having dessert back at our friends' house, we saw a fire truck go by, lights blazing and horn honking. Our friend informed us that when living in the city, the thing to do is go find out what's going on- we could see that it stopped not far from us. So, we went and saw the firemen do their thing- the fire was in an abandoned house that is due to be torn down, and as far as I can tell they didn't even need to use the hose- though they did get it all hooked up, which was cool to see.

It was amazing to see all three emergency services in one night! The crime downtown seemed like a it was pretty serious, while the fire seemed like a relatively minor event. Incidentally, the town we are moving to DOES have volunteer ambulance service and firefighters, we were glad to find out while we were visiting out there the other week. I think they have some police, too, though I imagine that job is pretty different from the police officers here. We'll find out!




Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Cherry Blossoms!

We went down to DC and saw the cherry blossoms the other weekend! (If you live in the area and pay attention to such things, then you know this post is a little dated). It was a great, semi-spontaneous date for us after church on a Sunday afternoon. We laughed that we are so used to being near Washington D.C- we took the Metro down with only the faintest idea of where we were going, and had to wander around a little bit before we found "the cherry blossoms." E has never been, so we definitely enjoyed the opportunity to see them while we're still nearby- I was teasing him because any flowering tree we saw, he would ask, "Are those the cherry blossoms?" At least now he can recognize a flowering cherry tree! He practiced by taking lots of pictures. While we were there, we also walked around the Natural History Smithsonian- gotta love those free DC museums. We tried to see the Botanical Gardens, too- I saw them in the dead of winter and was excited to see what they had in spring- but it was closed when we got there. While we were disappointed not to meet up with a friend who actually lives in DC, we did have dinner at a great Thai place right by his house in his honor. I especially enjoyed this as E doesn't generally enjoy Thai, and manged to surprise me due to some confusion about Metro stops. Yum!

Sunday, March 1, 2009

On Seeing

I wrote this poem a number of years ago... rhodopsin is the protein in you eye that actually senses light. I was learning about the process of vision at the time- it was inspired by the view on the drive back to college:

Bare black branches
against the setting sun
make me wish I were a painter
or a poet.
Instead,
I praise the Maker
for rhodopsin.

Thankful

I have a friend at work. For a few years in my PhD program, I didn't really hang out with anyone at work. This was sad to me. The other student in my lab was a guy a good bit older than I, and though we got along well, neither of us talked enough to strike up a friendship. I was used to it, but it was lonely.

Now I have a friend at work. She joined the lab three years ago, and now she is the easiest kind of friend- the kind you can watch TV with and not feel guilty about wasting time you could spend talking, because you saw them yesterday and will see them tomorrow, if there's anything new to say. Her desk is in the cubby next to mine, and we can lean around the wall and see if the other is doing anything interesting (i.e., something other than work). We work on the same project, meet together with out boss, have lunch together frequently, and generally do a lot of life side-by-side. We report on the day-to-day events of our evenings and sometimes we hang out outside of work. She is a year behind me in school and a few years ahead of me in life. We talk about TV and books and marriage and plans. Sometimes I worry that she wishes I would shove off, mostly since she couldn't get away from me if she tried, and she is too nice even to try. But, I think we both enjoy having someone around who is more interested in life outside of work than in their latest scientific achievement.

She is one of the things that make my life good, the things I am thankful for.

25 Things


This was going around Facebook a while back. Since I don't do facebook with much enthusiasm, and I'm new here in the internet world, I thought I'd put it here for fun, and by way of introduction.


25 Random Things about Me

  1. I read a lot of blogs, mostly about large families and homeschooling. Since I don’t have any children, and I don’t plan to homeschool, I’m not sure why I’m not tired of these yet.
  2. I’ve known my husband for 13 years, since we were 14. I kind of wanted to marry him even back then.
  3. I have a mountain of recycling sitting on my back deck, waiting to be taken to the recycling center. It’s been rained on and snowed and and frozen and unfrozen, and I keep procrastinating the task. I’ve even stopped recycling until I can get it out of here.
  4. I love to cook. Sometimes I read cookbooks for fun.
  5. My in-laws are awesome. They want me to feel like family, and they work hard to make it happen.
  6. My parents are awesome, too. I had an embarrassingly scar-free childhood.
  7. I get depressed in winter. All my journal entries in January through March talk about trusting God to bring the spring.
  8. This makes me a little nervous about moving to the snowy MidWest.
  9. On the other hand, I really want to try snow-shoeing.
  10. My husband and I live in a tiny 1-bedroom apartment. We’ll probably get a bigger place when we move, and I’m worried about keeping it clean.
  11. I’m also worried we won’t see each other, when we actually have the option of being in different rooms. (My husband laughs at this idea).
  12. I have a lot of best friends. This used to bug me, but I’ve made peace with it.
  13. I don’t have a lot of friends, though. I don’t really like meeting new people.
  14. I’m into rock music lately. My favorite new find is Blue October.
  15. I really, really like Harry Potter. I know I’m way to old for this kind of obsession, but I think she’s a great writer and her books will stand the test of time.
  16. I’d rather not have too many choices.
  17. I’m not coordinated enough to play sports (or ski), but I like to run, walk, hike, bike, canoe, camp, etc.
  18. Despite my lack of coordination, I can juggle pretty well. I learned from a friend between classes in high school.
  19. I’m no good at clothes. My younger sister has been more fashionable since she learned to dress herself.
  20. I like to walk around while I brush my teeth. This has disturbed all the people I have lived with, but I think it’s normal.
  21. I love to walk and get someplace. I’m really looking forward to doing errands on foot in SmallTown .
  22. I hated my name when I was young, but I like it now.
  23. My Dad works at the same place that I do, and we have lunch pretty often. We talk about food and school.
  24. I take a bus to work, and I read like a maniac while waiting and riding.
  25. I’d like to have chickens. Eggs, you know. And meat.